Max goes with Ari
by KatishJohanson
Summary: If you are against Mari, either DON'T read this story, or don't review badly when you hate it. What if Max agreed to go away with Ari to that special place he knew about? Mari all the way. They're not related in this story, and they're at least 18.
1. Ari's Secret Place

**Disclaimer: I own EVERYTHING! Bwahahahaha! JK! But, really, if you thought I really did, go see a doctor, for your own sake… **

**Sorry, but I can't find my book to copy down what Ari says, so please, just bear with me here, people. Review! I respect criticism, but no flames, please! Thanks, and enjoy! **

**Max POV**

**MAX AND ARI AREN'T RELATED IN THIS STORY!**

"Come on Max, we'll go away together to a place I know. Alone. We can get away from all of this craziness, and running, and hiding and live normal lives. We can be friends. What do you say?" Ari asked me as if I could just leave my flock, _by themselves._ Right.

"Ari, you know I could never leave the flock alone. They would _die_ without me saving their asses every day. And how would I know that this isn't just a trick so that you can bring me to the school?" I said, sounding very sure of myself.

"It's not, Max. And I have arranged for the flock to be secretly taken care of. They won't notice, but they won't be harmed, either. I've got it all taken care of. I'm actually a lot smarter than you give me credit for.

I thought about it. The flock would be safe, and I would just get to relax in some secret place, being friends with Ari. It all seemed too good to be true. Of course, I could always just make one of my cleaver escapes if I really wanted to. Hmm…

"You know what, we've got a deal, dog-boy." I said, and smirked. I thought he would be mad at my comment, but he…_smiled._

"Come on, birdie." He replied, and came over to my tree. I thought he was going to put me in a sack, or something, but to my surprise, he _lifted me up and carried me._ Wow. "I have to carry you, so I know you can't run away from me." He said, answering my thoughts. He flew up, and north for about three hours, then landed in front of a small hotel.

"Is this that secret place? Because it looks pretty out in the open to me…" I said sarcastically. He put me down, but gently took my hand in his and walked through the fancy double doors.

"No, this is just a stop. The place is really far away, and it will take a few days to get there from the U.S." He said, and walked up the front desk, and said, "Reservation for Batchelder. Is my room ready yet?" in a very mature-sounding voice.

The man at the desk looked up from a magazine, then smiled an 'I was paid to do this' smile, and said, "Yes, sir. Here is your key. You are in room 35 on the third floor." He handed Ari a small key and went back to reading his magazine.

"Okay, Maximum, let's go find the room." Ari looked down at me, and then started to walk, and since he still had my hand in his, I was dragged forward, too. We got in the elevator, and pressed the '3' button (which was apparently the top floor) and found the room pretty quickly. He unlocked the door, and gestured for me to go inside first. I stepped inside, and my jaw dropped. I quickly shut it, and stepped further into the room, and did a quick 360 of the area. It was safe, but the room was just so… I can't think of words strong enough.

"Um… wow…" I said. The room was A-MA-ZING! The room was a perfect square, with two walls that were a tannish-peach color, and the other two walls were made entirely of glass, looking out over the ocean. The carpet was so soft, it felt like silk. There were paintings and seashells and fancy beach things all over the place, and everything was colored in that tan, sandy colored theme. The carpet and ceiling were the same color as the two real walls. And the bed… it was _huge_. Not only was it gigantic, but it was like a work of art, not meant to be slept on. The comforter was a darker shade of tan, and there were like a gazillion pillows on it, and a conch shell in the front.

"Do you like it?" Ari asked me, seeing the totally shocked look on my face. "Because I can get a different one, if you want…"

"No, no, this room is okay. Okay, I'm lying, it's _amazing_! I love it!" I said, and hugged him, then quickly let go, a little embarrassed.

"Good, because I wasn't sure you would, and I just want you to be happy. Now, are you hungry yet, or do you want to wait?" He asked, surprisingly kind. I guess he just really wanted to be my friend. Well, he was doing great so far. I walked over to the window-wall thingy and peered out, surveying the area. It looked alright. I guess it was just me being used to danger.

"I'm good. If you're hungry, go ahead and eat, you don't have to wait for me." I said, gazing out at the beautiful beach. It was like a dream… or a trap.

"No, I'm not hungry, I was just asking. Let me know when you do get hungry, though." Ari said, sitting down on the love-seat at the other end of the room. He watched me as I sat there, just staring out of the wall. Ha, that sounds funny. But anyway… after staring out of the wall for what felt like hours-maybe it was- I went over and sat next to Ari.

"Can we eat now?" I asked, just noticing that I was starving. After a second, he looked over at me. Apparently I'd interrupted his day-dreaming.

"Sure, Maximum." He arose (see, I do have good vocabulary) and offered his hand to help me up, but being me, I ignored it and just got up myself.

"So, what's for dinner?" I asked, then realized that had no idea what time it was. Come to think of it, it did look a little dark outside. I shrugged to myself.

"There's a restaurant downstairs, and they serve basically anything you might want, so I thought it would be good." He said, going to get our coats. He threw mine to me, and then put his on, awkwardly, over his big, sewed-on wings. I slid easily into mine and met him at the door.

"Come on, birdie." He said. We went down to the restaurant and ate some really good meal, and the next day, we were flying again. When we arrived at our destination this time, it was an air-port. Oh, joy. Just what I needed, to be shoved on a tiny little plane, closed in and crowded by other people.

"We're _flying on a plane_? Why?" I asked, not too thrilled about flying the unnatural way. Ari looked a little surprised about my shock.

"Well, birdie, the secret place is too far away to fly to the 'natural' way. Your little wings would be soar by the time we got there, and I don't want to hear you sob about it." I swung to slap him across the face, and he dodged my swing, and caught the hand. He held it between two fingers and dropped it.

"Watch it, birdie." Then gestured for me to follow him, and gave me a _don't you dare try to run away or_ _else_ look, so I did. In a few minutes, we were on the stupid plane, and the flight attendant was talking through her stupid microphone thingy, the way most do before the plane takes off. Finally, she said 'fasten your seat belts, and enjoy the flight' and the plane took off. We got to where-ever the hell it was we were flying to in six hours, and from there, we took a small boat to a hidden island in the _middle of nowhere._

"Is _this _the secret place you've been talking about?" I said in an aggravated voice. I'd gone from being in a beautiful hotel room, to being crammed onto a plane and a tiny boat the next day. Now, you tell me how happy that would make you if you were super freaking _claustrophobic_!

"Yes, this is the place, and don't even try to escape, birdie, because you will be sleeping with the fishes before you can reach land." He said

"Good to know." I said. "So, where are we staying, on this little island? Please tell me you didn't drag me out here and don't even have somewhere for me to stay…"

"_We_ will be staying in a house that looks exactly like the hotel room we stayed in, except, you know, it's a house." He told, me, and I was thrilled, until I realized how he said the word 'we'. What did he mean…?


	2. True Love

**Disclaimer: I am not a slave master; so, no I do not **_**own**_** any of these characters. Duh.**

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Ari lead me to the house, and just walked right in. No need to lock a door if you're on a deserted island, right? Right.

"So, you like it?" Ari asked as we walked in. I had to admit, it was big _and _pretty. I might not be so miserable here after all.

"I love it, Ari. Thank you." I said, but my voice sounded off. Did he notice? He would wonder why. didn't even know why myself.

"Is something wrong? You don't sound very happy." He said, looking down at my with concerned puppy-dog eyes. They were really cute. And that hair… I just wanted to run my finger through it. Wait! Did I just say that! Well, pretend I didn't.

"This all just seems too good to be true… the island, the whole being safe idea, he house… I'm just waiting for something bad to happen and ruin it. Something always does. Like when me and Fang where out on a date…" I said, but broke off.

"That's the thing, Max; I'm not Fang, or the Flock, or Jeb. I'm Ari. Nothing bad has happened when I was with you, besides, well, _me_." He looked embarrassed and ashamed of himself. I don't know why, but I think I felt sorry for him.

"It's not your fault. I'm very happy here. Now why don't you show me the room?" I said, trying to distract him from feeling guilty. We walked up a flight of stairs, and turned left into the room. It was just as amazing as the hotel room, but bigger and better. It even had two glass walls overlooking the ocean.

"Ari, can I go walk around in the forest? I won't try to escape, because I know I'd be sleeping with the fishes before I reached land." I said, quoting what he told me earlier.

"Sure. I brought you here for you _and_ me to be happy, not just me. Knock your socks off." He smiled that beautiful smile of his, and I smiled back.

"I'll be back in a little bit." I said on my way out. I walked down the stairs and out the door. As soon as go to the right of the house, there's a forest. I went into it and found a tree in the middle to sit on. I leaped onto it, and sat in the middle of the branch. I was staring off into space, thinking. Thinking about Fang, the flock, Jeb, the Voice, Ari, Ari, and Ari. Hmm…

All of a sudden, something dropped down onto my branch behind me. I had been facing the trunk, so I turned around. It was just Ari. Ari, Ari, Ari…

"Did I interrupt your daydreams, Maxie?" He asked, obviously already knowing the answer. What was it about his voice, it made me…_want _him…

"Yes, but I forgive you." I said in a sweet-and-sour voice. He apparently liked it, because he smiled a tempting smile. He was sort of…what's the word…bad. Well, I always did like bad boys, because I hate mushy, smushy feelings, and stuff like that, but I didn't know I liked wolf-boys. Wait! What was I saying! I don't like Ari!

_Yes you do, Max. You always have, you just never knew it. Give him a chance. _It was the voice. Of course, the voice inside my head. You don't have one? Well, they might have some left at Nut-Mart!

"Well, I'm glad you forgave me." Then, to my complete shock, he leaned in and _kissed me. _I pulled away, but he pushed me back against the trunk of the tree, and held my face to his so that I couldn't pull away. In my mind, I was fighting to stop him, but in reality, I was kissing back. I thought I was kicking and screaming, but really, I had turned my head so that we could kiss better, and was entwining my fingers in his hair.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of making out-maybe it was- Ari gently pulled away. Actually, until then, I hadn't noticed how gentle Ari had been. Now, you were probably thinking that Ari was hurting me, and forcing me to kiss him, and blah, blah, blah, but he wasn't. He was gentle, and kind. Actually, we fit together-physically and mentally- like two puzzle pieces.

"You kissed me back!" Ari said, smirking. He was right. I did kiss him back. I was falling for Ari! No, I couldn't be. I'd hated Ari, and he'd hated me.

_You are falling for him. You're falling for each other. You love each other. It's meant to be. _Ugh, the voice and his stupid fortune cookie crap.

"You're falling for me." He said tauntingly, but irresistibly. How did he do that?

"I am not!" I said, so embarrassed that I could feel my face turn red.

"But you are, Maximum. You're falling for me, I'm falling for you. It's all working out." He said. I couldn't even find something to say in argument. For one of the first times, I had nothing to say. So what did I do? I hopped off the tree branch, landing perfectly on my feat, and stormed off. I was working, until I realized Ari was walking right next to me.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Maxie." He said. I was silent. I couldn't find any words. I was losing. And, the worst part was, I think he's right. I loved him.

_See, Max. You just had to admit it to yourself, now admit it to Ari._

I think the voice is having too much fun with this. But maybe he was right. Or maybe not. By now we were in the bedroom. I went and sat down on the bed. Wow, it really was comfy! Of course, Ari came and sat next to me.

"Come on Maxie, don't block me out like this. I love you. See, I admitted it, now you." Silence. "Fine. If you won't admit it verbally, admit it physically." He leaned in and gently pressed his lips against mine. Usually, I would still block him out, or if it were Fang or Iggy, slap them. What was it about Ari…?

I couldn't help myself. I leaned in closer and kissed more passionately. I turned my head so we could kiss better, a parted my lips slightly. Then we were tongue kissing. We got onto the bed a little better-we were basically falling off- and I ran my fingers through his hair. He put his hands around my waist and pulled me closer, then onto his lap. Now I was on his lap, facing him, making out, and entwining my fingers with his hair. It was great.

"See, Max. See how great it is to be open to each other? I don't know about you, but I think it's great." He went back to making out with me.

I pulled away a little, and said, "I know what you mean. Now that we're open to each other, we get to do this," I gestured to us, sitting on the bed, making out, "And now, I can admit it verbally. I love you, Ari Batchelder!" I said, and was glad to get it out. The voice was right.

_Of course I was. You've been locking up these feelings for so long, it's good to get them out._

"And I love you, Maximum Ride." More making out, but more passionately. Eventually, we calmed it down, and stopped. "Wow." Ari said, and I realized that he'd probably never kissed anyone before me, so this was a new experience. For me, at least, I'd kissed Fang. Now I knew he really, truly loved me.

Ari went and pulled a small dark-brown box out of a dresser drawer, and kneeled next to the bed. He got on one knee and said, "Maximum Ride, will you marry me?" He asked genuinely. This was not happening…


	3. Ari, Marriage, and Honey Moons

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_"Maximum Ride, will you marry me?" This was not happening!_

Well, yes it was, and, to tell the truth, I was all panicky. It was all so soon! We weren't even dating. We'd just made out a couple of times, that was all. How long had he been waiting for this? I know I hadn't thought about getting married, _ever. _

_ Max, be honest with yourself. All you have to do is clear your head and think about what is most important. _Grr. The voice and it's dumb fortune cookie stuff. It couldn't just give me a straight-out answer, could it?

_Uh, voice, I know you don't like to actually _help_ me, but, do you think, just this once, you could cut the crap, and give me a real answer?_ I thought to the voice. Silence. Of course it couldn't.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I closed it, and tried to find something to say. Use your words, Max. I tried again, this time succeeding. "Um... Ari, I... I don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment yet." I looked down, ashamed and a little embarrassed. His eyes looked sad and a little bit furious.

"What do you mean? You just said that you loved me? Is this because of your precious _Fang_? Well, guess what. Fang isn't here, is he? No! I am. I've always been there, even when Fang wasn't. I will always be here, weather you like it, or not!" He said, going from infuriated, to aggravated, to sad, and so on. I hated to admit it, but I think he was right. It was sort of because Fang, and Fang wasn't here. He was probably glad I was gone, so he could find the red-haired wonder again.

_See, Maximum, now your getting there. Think. Clear your mind, and just think._

For once, I did what the voice said. I cleared my head and just thought. About Ari, about Fang, about Marriage. _Marriage?_ Me, the great Maximum Ride, _Married?_ That sounded crazy, even to me. And, also, it sounded weird that my bad-boy wanted to get married. But, mostly, it sounded...good. It really did. I didn't know what to do...

"Max, if your worried that being married to me won't allow you to be Max anymore, your wrong. I will always try to make you as happy as I can. You can still have all the freedom in the world, well, besides dating that horrible Fang." He said Fang's name in disgust, but besides that, he sounded pretty sincere.

"What do you have against Fang?" I asked, realizing that I'd sort of changed the subject. He didn't seem to notice. He got up and sat back down next to me.

"He tried to steal you away from me. He almost succeeded. I was always a little jealous of him. He got to live with you, then be on the run with you, be alone with you... I couldn't stand the fact that it wasn't me." He looked into my eyes, and I blushed and looked away.

"Okay. We can try this whole marriage thing, but if it doesn't work out..." I trailed off, letting him know that I wasn't going to be forced to stay married to him. "And, anyway, we're on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, who's gonna marry us?" It was true, no one was here to do the job.

"Well, if I can have people fly out here every few days to bring us food, I can certainly fly out someone to marry us." He said, proud of how well he'd thought through this. I was actually sort of impressed. Until I realized what he'd said.

"People come here? What if they are under cover people from the school, or the institute, or something? I knew this was too good to be true." I said, thinking that I had already known something would screw this up.

"They aren't. They are people my dad and I have known for a very long time, and would never betray us. Besides, they're scared as hell of me." He said, laughing and smiling his beautiful smile at the end. I really didn't get why people thought he was ugly. He was actually very beautiful, he was just very wolf-like.

"Okay, when and where." I said, not believing what I'd gotten myself into.

"Tomorrow, one o'clock, west side of the beach. There are a bunch of beautiful wedding dresses for you to choose from downstairs, and a bunch of shoes and other wedding-looking things for you to where, if you want." He said. Wow. Wedding dresses. He must've really thought about this. He took my hand and slid the beautiful diamond ring onto my finger. What was I doing?

"Okay, so...what now?" I asked. What was it that people did after a wedding proposal?

He pushed me up against the wall-gently, but in a way that made me know what he was going to do- and put his arms on the wall on either side of me, trapping me there. He leaned in and kissed me, and I tried to pull away, but couldn't. He kissed me for a few minutes, then stopped.

"Come on, Maxie. Kiss me back. You know you want to." Ari said, making me mad. I'd just agreed to marry him-almost against my will- and now he was forcing me to kiss him. Maybe I'd said I loved him, but right now I was just aggravated. What else did he want from me? He kissed me again, and I, unwillingly, kissed him back. Then I got into it, and was kissing him passionately.

...

When I woke up in the morning, I went downstairs to the room where Ari was keeping all the wedding stuff. Wow. There where about 40 dresses, 100 accessories, and 20 pairs of shoes down here! Where did all this stuff come from?

After looking through the gazillion-and-one dresses, I finally found the perfect one. It was an off-white colored dress with seashells on it. The perfect dress for a beach wedding. To go with it, I found a pair of shoes that matched the dress _perfectly, _and an elegant seashell necklace. Huh. I just said _elegant._ Anyway...

At one o'clock, I was on the beach, about 20 feet away from Ari, waiting for music to play. It started playing, and I started walking to the pace of the music. I finally reached Ari, and we both turned to face the minister.

He said a bunch of dumb wedding stuff, then finally said, "Do you, Maximum Ride, take Ari Batchelder, to be you husband?"

I looked at Ari, then at the minister, and said, "I do." Ari looked very pleased.

"And do you, Ari Batchelder, take Maximum Ride to be your wife?" Asked the minister. Well, duh. If he didn't, we wouldn't be here.

"I do." He said, looking into my eyes, smiling.

"You may now kiss the bride." He said, and Ari leaned down and kissed me deeply.

"Kiss me back." He demanded, and I kissed him lightly, then turned my head and kissed him for a few seconds longer. We separated, and Ari looked very, very pleased. Too pleased. Then I realized what this meant. I belonged to Ari. I was his, forever, whether I liked it or not. Damn it!

"Come on, Mrs. Batchelder. We're going back to the house to start our honey-moon." Oh, my gosh. Did he just say Mrs. _Batchelder_? I would have to talk to him about that. Right as I was about to start walking, Ari scooped me up into his arms, and held me close.

"Um... I have legs, you know..." I told him, wanting to walk. He kissed my forehead briefly, and then said, "Well, I thought it would be more romantic if I carried you back to the house.

"Yeah, I guess." I said. A few minutes later, we where at the house, and Ari carried me upstairs, and plopped my down onto the bed.

"What now?" I asked, feeling awkward just sitting here. Ari was loosening his tie and ripping off his shoes.

"Get comfortable." He said, taking off his tux-jacket thing. I nodded once, and started taking off all of the uncomfortable jewelry that I was wearing. After that, I took off my heels, undid my hair, and sat back down next to Ari.

"Okay, what _now_?" I asked. This honey-moon stuff wasn't much fun.

Instead of answering me, he leaned in close to my face and kissed me. We always did the same thing. He kissed me, I didn't kiss him, he told me to, I tilted my head so we could kiss better, blah, blah, blah. Well, I wanted to mix it up a bit, so I immediately started making out with him. I opened my mouth slightly, and slid my tongue into his mouth.

Noticing my mood, he pulled me onto his lap, and I tangled my fingers into his hair. In return, he put his hands on my waist, and started to bring them up my sides. Then, it all went uphill. Or was it downhill?


	4. Stomach Ache

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…_In return, Ari put his hands on my hips, and began bringing them up my sides…_

I don't know how long we where…uh, having fun… but it was a while. The last thing I was consciously aware of was telling Ari how much I loved him. How much my heart pounded when he was near me.

And then he told me about his undying love for me. It was incredible. He told me how his heart would ache when I was gone. How incredible I was in his eyes. How beautiful I really was to him. How he thought about me constantly, hardly stopping to think about anything else besides making me happy.

That was all I remembered.

…

…Two weeks later…

I woke up in the morning felling a little sick. I figured I was just hungry, and still a little stunned about last night.

My head was still on Ari's chest, and Ari was looking down at me. I smiled, and he returned the smile. What did I do last night!

"Good morning, birdie. How're ya doing?" He asked, and I took a minute, and then said, "I'm fine, I just have a stomach ache. I'm probably just hungry, though. What about you?"

"I've been watching you sleep for a while. Like, I once said, you are so peaceful when you are asleep." He said, still looking down at me like I was the center of his universe.

"I believe you said that I was peaceful when I'm asleep and when my mouth is shut, or something along those lines." I told him, and he looked surprised and mad that I remembered that. He frowned at the memory.

"I really didn't like you. You stole my daddy, and I never got over it until a few years ago." He said, and now that I thought about it, I really did steal his dad from him.

"It's okay. And, also, I'm sorry. I always thought you were cute, even when you were three." I admitted, a little bit to make him feel better.

"It's okay. Now, how about some breakfast?" He asked, remembering that I'd said I was hungry. Oh, yeah. I was hungry.

"Yeah, I'm starving. Last night wiped me out." I said as Ari got up. He came over to where I was, and scooped me up into his arms. I was used to it by now. He carried me downstairs to the kitchen, and sat me down in a chair at the island on the left side.

"What can I get for you, Mrs. Batchelder?" Ari asked, and I remembered that I had to talk about that with him.

"Uh, Ari… I know I married you, but I don't want my last name to be changed to Batchelder forever. Yes, for you and I, it's Max Batchelder, but to the rest of the world, I'm still going to be Maximum Ride. You understand, right?" I asked, hoping he did. He didn't look upset at all to me.

"Of course, Maxie. I just like to say that because you and I are together forever, and you having my last name, even just to us, is a sign of that." He replied, completely understanding. Why was he just _so _perfect?

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure that you understood that. And I'll have whatever you're having." I said, and he nodded.

"I'll make us up some eggs. Do you want some milk or something?" Mmm, milk.

"I'll have a glass of milk. Thanks." I said, and he said, "You are more than welcome." as he was getting out the milk. He poured some into a glass, and slid the glass over to me. He made the eggs, and put some on my plate, then some on his. He gave me my eggs, and come to sit down next to me.

"Ari, are you mad that I don't want to change my last name? I really don't want you to be unhappy; I just still want to be Max." I asked, felling a little guilty.

"Of course not, honey. I will always support you decisions. And besides, you'll always be my Mrs. Batchelder, even if you're not to the rest of the world." He was so understanding. I leaned over to him and kissed his cheek. He smiled at me, and mouthed the words, 'I love you' to me.

I ate my breakfast in hope that my stomach would feel better, but it actually felt a little worse. I needed to tell Ari, but I didn't want him to overreact. So I decided to tell him.

"Ari?" I asked, looking over at him. We were sitting together on the living-room couch, watching some stupid TV show that neither of us were paying any attention to.

"Yes, honey?" He asked sweetly. He was definitely going to overreact.

"Um… since this morning, my stomach has been hurting. Like, a lot. I don't know why, but I need to find some way to make it fell better, or at least find out why it's hurting." I said. He overreacted.

"Oh my god, do you want me to call a doctor, or bring you to a hospital? Do you need medication?" He asked, obviously worried sick.

"I don't need a doctor, but…" I didn't want to say it.

"But what? What do you need, honey?" Ari was definitely worried, and I felt really bad.

"I think I need to take a pregnancy test…" I said. He looked shocked, horrified, and, actually, a little awed.


	5. Baby

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_"I think I need to take a pregnancy test…" I said. _

"A what?" Ari asked, but had obviously heard what I'd said. But I knew how he felt. Well, sort of.

"A pregnancy test. I've been having a stomach ache all the time, throwing up, craving things, and look at my stomach." I lifted up my shirt just enough to reveal the little bulge coming out of my stomach.

"Um…okay, I have some in the bathroom. Come on." Ari was really shocked, and I don't think he knew exactly how to react. He lead me to the bathroom and reached into a cabinet. He pulled out a box that said 'Most Accurate Pregnancy Test of The Year' on it and took one out. He took one out and handed it to me.

"You, um, know what to do, right?" He asked me. I was sort of zoned out, so it took me a couple second to answer.

"Um… yeah…" I said, as he handed me the test thingy.

"Uh, I'll leave you to your business, but I'll be waiting right outside the door if you need me." Ari forced a smile onto his face, but it wasn't very convincing. He stepped out of the room, and I closed the door. I did what I had to do, and then I realized that I couldn't do it. I couldn't look at the results.

"Ari… you can come in…" I said, looking anywhere but at the test. He opened the door and slowly walked towards me.

"So… what did it say?" He asked. That was the reason I'd called him in.

"Uh… I don't know. I-I can't do it. I can't read it, so I want you to read it for me." I handed it to him and looked up at him. He held it up and then put it down on the counter.

"So… what did it say?" I asked, a little anxious. He bit his lip, the saw that I really wanted to know, and decided to just get on with it.  
"It was… um… it was positive." He said, and then bit his lip again. He was probably waiting for me to react, so he would know how to act himself.

"Huh." I said, not knowing what to think myself.

"What do you think? Are you mad at me?" I asked, hoping he wasn't.

"Max, how could _I_ be mad at _you_ because _I _got you _pregnant_? I just… don't know what to think. I don't know what you think. I really didn't see this coming. I should've been more prepared. I mean, having sex unprotected, what was going to happen? I didn't think about it. I'm so sorry Max. This whole thing just turned upside down."

He frowned, thinking I was mad. Actually, this could be a good thing, I think.

"I'm not mad, and you have nothing to be sorry about. I am as much to blame as you are. And, maybe, this could be a good thing." I said, trying to cheer him up, but still telling the truth.

"You think?" He asked, sort of hopefully. I could also tell he was glad that I was being optimistic.

"Yeah, I mean, weren't we going to want to start a family of our own, anyway? Like, not like this, and not this soon, but we would want to eventually. This might be good for us." I told him almost exactly what I was thinking.

"You know, you're right. I've always thought about having a family of my own, and this is the start of it. But we are going to be a lot more careful about what we do and eat, so that we don't harm the little monster." Did he just call my baby a _monster_? He didn't!

"Ari, did you just call my baby a _monster_?" I asked, a little offended. I had a little baby growing inside of me, _because of him; _he had the nerve to call it a _monster_?

"Honey, you know that's not what I meant. I would never say something like that about our little baby. I love you, and I can already tell that I will love it, too." I was a little bit angry, but then, he said _our little baby_, and I felt a soft inside. Wait. Eww.

I got up and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me a rubbed my back. This was going to work out. Ari put an arm around my shoulders, and then led me back to our room. We lay next to each other on the bed, and I rubbed my little baby bump. Then, when Ari put his arm around me, a felt a little nudge.

"Ari! Put your hand on my stomach, and just wait for a second!" I said excitedly. He did it, and all of a sudden, his face lit up, and he looked completely awed.

"It likes you, Ari. I think it knows your it's father." I said, smiling up at him. He smiled back, and the baby kicked again.

"What are we going to name it?" He asked, still smiling. I thought about it.

"Well, for a girl, I was thinking Mari, like Max and Ari combined, and for a boy, I was thinking, maybe just Ari Jr. Is that stupid? What do you think?" I asked, not knowing what he was thinking. Sometimes I wished I could read minds.

"I like the girl name idea, but are you sure you would want to name a boy after me?" He asked, shocked that I would name my baby boy after him.

"Yeah, I mean, he's yours, too, and I can't think of any ways to combine our names into a boy name." I said. Now I really wished I could read minds. Like angel. Oh, Angel! I missed her so much! And my flock! They were probably so worried about me, while I was relaxing on a hidden island, happily married. And pregnant.

"Ari, can I ask you for a favor?" I asked, knowing that he probably wouldn't let me.

"Anything, my love." He replied sweetly. Maybe he would. No, not really.

"Uh, well… um… I want to see my flock." I looked down, afraid he would be angry with me for wanting to see them.

"Of course, love. But, first, I'm going to have to track them down, of course." He said. It took me a couple seconds to realize what he'd said. I was going to see my flock!


	6. The Flock

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"_Of course, love. But, first, I'm going to have to track them down, of course."He said. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what he'd said. I was going to see my flock!_

"Yeah, and god knows you are an expert at that, huh?" I said. Huh, I kind of felt silly, mentioning that to him.

"Yeah, those where some good times. Well, besides us hating each other and always fighting to the death." He laughed, and then I remembered something.

"Ari, how _did _you used to find us so easily?" I asked. That was something I'd always wondered.

"You all have built-in tracking devices. We used them to tell us where you where whenever we needed to know. And for me, whenever I thought about you." He smiled, and I'd returned the smile.

"So, when can we track them down?" I asked, already anxious. He grinned, and said, "Right now, if you want." Yes!

"Let's do it!" I said, already on my feet. Ari got up and reached out for my hand. I took it and he lead me downstairs. We went down into our brand-new looking basement-not a cellar type thing, more like a little apartment- and went into one of the little rooms. He reached into a really high shelf and pulled out a tiny gadget.

"Would you like to do it?" Ari asked, seeing how anxious I was. I nodded.

"How do you do it?" I asked as he handed it to me. There were only a few buttons, but I didn't want to break it.

"All you have to do is select a flock member, and then press the 'locate' button. Got it?" He asked, making sure I knew what to do.

"Yeah." I replied, and selected Angel. My sweet little Angel. Then, I pressed 'locate' and it started to locate her. Finally, the word, 'Hamden, Connecticut' showed up. Hmm, Connecticut?

"Hamden, Connecticut. Hmm, what's in Connecticut?" I asked. Ari shrugged, then said, "Well, you're not going to like this, but we're flying there on a plane. It will be here tomorrow at about eleven o'clock."

As much as I hated planes, especially for trips this long, it was worth it! I was going to see the flock! "That's fine. Thank you SO much, Ari, you don't know how much more happy you made me!" I said, wrapping my arms around him. He hugged me back.

"Well, I know that if I had a family that loved and cared for me, I'd want to see them." He said. That made me feel kind of guilty. Ari really didn't have any family, did he?

I looked up at him. "You have me, and baby, and other than us, you do have Jeb." Oh yeah, Jeb. I wasn't sure if I liked him or not. But if Ari wanted to see him, I wouldn't care.

"Jeb never really loved me. He always loved you, and rarely ever noticed me. I was just a little baby who got Eraserfied." He said, but he didn't seem all that sad.

"That's not true. He loved you and was probably very proud of you. I mean, he was probably very impressed about you planning all of _this._ And by this, I mean getting _me_, the most stubborn girl in the _entire world_ to come here, and then fall in love with you. He probably brags about you all the time." I said, trying to cheer him up.

"I'm not so sure how much of that I believe, but thank you for being optimistic and trying to cheer me up." He said, knowing that that was what I was doing.

"Well, anyway, you don't even need him. If he isn't smart enough to recognize all of your wonderful qualities, then, that's his loss. You have me, and Mari/Ari Jr. And, maybe, the flock." I said. I really hoped they wouldn't be mad that I'd left them…

…

The next morning, I was up at nine-which was early for pregnant old me- and fully dressed. I scarfed down a bowl of cereal, and was on a roll, but then Ari had to rain on my parade, and calm me down.

"Max, honey, you rushing through breakfast isn't going to make the plane get here any faster. Just relax." He pulled me over onto his lap, and I put his hand on my tummy. The baby kicked when Ari's hand touched my stomach. I leaned my head back onto his shoulder, and then kissed him on the cheek.

"I know, I just haven't seen them in so long. To tell the truth, I haven't been thinking about them much lately, what with the baby and all." I admitted, and his face looked a little off.

"I'm sorry, Max. That's all my fault; I should have brought you to see them sooner, I just… I didn't want you t try to escape. That's not what you're trying to do right?" He looked a little worried then, but I looked down at my stomach.

"I'm definitely not going anywhere any time soon. Besides, it was different before. I'm in love with you too much to leave now." I kissed his cheek again and smiled. He returned it, and pressed his lips to mine gently.

"I love you, Max. Always." Ari said, and I knew he meant it. After all we'd been through; he'd loved me the entire time.

"I love you too. Oh! Was that the plane?" I asked, leaping off of his lap and over to the window. "Yes, it is! Come on!" I was really excited!

"Okay, okay, don't jump too much, you might hurt the baby. I stopped jumping, and grabbed Ari's hand. He squeezed it lightly, and led my outside to where the plane was. We got on, and as soon as we took our seats in our private plane, it took off. This was going to be a long flight.

…

What seemed like a million years later, the plane landed in New Haven, which was a larger town right next to Hamden. I checked the locator thingy again. Yup, they were still here. We got off the plane, and watched it take off again, then I spread out my wings.

"What do you think you are doing?" Ari asked, and I was completely puzzled. What had I done wrong?

"Uh, unfurling my wings so that I can fly…" I said, still a bit confused. We were flying there, weren't we?

"And risk baby getting hurt? I don't think so." Ari said, and once again, scooped me up into his muscular arms. My caring man.

"Uh, whatever you say, Daddy." I said. He smiled, and took off. Since we where only one town over, it only took about twenty minutes to cross the town-lines into Hamden.

"What now? We're in Hamden, but how do we find them?" I asked.

"Take out the locator, and press the coordinates button. It will tell act as a navigation system, and bring us right to them." Wow. That was schmancy. I did as he said, and it told us exactly where to go. It turned out they were in a cave on a mountain called the 'Sleeping Giant'.

"Look, there they are!" I yelled, and Ari flew to where I pointed. He landed inside the cave with a thud, and put me down, but still held onto my wrist. Five surprised heads turned toward me.

"Max!" They shouted in unison. They all smiled except for Fang, who was scowling at Ari.

"Hi guys. How have you been?" I asked, having so much to talk about. They looked at me, and Angel said, "We were fine," and Nudge continued with, "but how about you? We were worried sick about you!" She said, coming up to hug me, but hesitating because of Ari.

"Can I have my hand, please?" I asked, and he looked down at me and nodded, and then let go of my wrist. I hugged Nudge tightly, and then went around hugging everyone. Nudge, then Gazzy, then Iggy, then my Angel, and lastly, Fang. I'd missed then all so much.

"So, what have you been up to? What brings you to Connecticut?" I asked, and they told me all about what they'd did while I was gone, how they'd looked for me, where they'd stayed, and all kinds of other things.

"I'm so sorry that you were worried about me. But, I'm glad that you all look healthy!" I said. They nodded.

"You look healthy, too. It even looks like you've put on a few pounds." Said Gazzy. Then I remembered about my little nudger, and blocked the thought from my head.

"What are you hiding from me, Max?" Angel asked, noticing I was hiding something. Should I tell them? "Tell us what?" Angel pressed.

"Um, well… I'm…pregnant…" I said, barely managing to get the words out. Everyone except Angel's jaw dropped, and she was jumping up and down. That was because she still didn't know how babies were made.

"Pregnant? He raped you?" Asked Fang, turning to Ari, even angrier looking than before. "You sick bastard" He said. Ugh, I was going to have to tell him, wasn't I?

"Uh, well, not exactly…" I said, not wanting to say what really happened in front of the little kids.

"Iggy, take the kids out to go hiking or something, I want to talk to Max." Fang said, and Iggy nodded.

"Come on, kids. Let's go for a fly." Iggy said, waiting for them to one-by-one jump off the cave ledge, and then he brought up the rear.

"So, let me get this straight. He didn't rape you, but yet, you're _pregnant_. Like, with a baby?" He asked, and I didn't exactly like where this was going…

"Yes, that's right." I said, trying not to be afraid, but not succeeding.

"You had _sex_ with _Ari_? How could you do that? He's tried to kill us numerous times, and he probably abused you, didn't he? Did he force you to have sex with him?" At this point, Fang was furious.

"No, Fang! Ari would never do that to me. He loves me, and doesn't have any interest in hurting me." I said, standing my guard.

"Oh, so now you're all lovey-dovey with Ari, huh? Well, what about us? We had something Max, you know we did. What about that?" Fang asked, and I could tell that Ari didn't like where this was going, either.

"There is no us anymore, Fang. I…I married Ari, and we are very happy together. There, I said it!" I practically yelled at him. A shocked expression washed over his face.

"Married? _You_ got _married_?" I nodded. "Oh, yes, well I'm sure you're _very_ happy, being trapped on some island with this monster." His voice was dripping with sarcasm as he pointed at Ari. Ari was pissed at this point, and to be honest we all where. I didn't know what to do…


	7. Shot Down

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_Ari was pissed at this point, and to be honest we all where. I didn't know what to do…_

"Ari's not _trapping_ me anywhere. I am staying with him willingly, so calm the (insert a curse word here) down, Fang. God, what's with you?" I wanted to just scream in his face. Man, if I knew this was going to happen, I never would have come.

_Max, is that true? You still would have come to see me, right?_ It was Angel, thinking towards me in a sad tone. Oh, she'd been listening the entire time.

_Yes, of course, sweetie. I will always want to see you. Now, can you give Fang and me a little privacy, please? Then, when you come back, I'll play with you and do your hair, okay? _I thought towards her. I couldn't send my own thoughts, but she could listen to them…

_Okay!_ And that was it. Okay, now back to business.

"Well, first of all, you disappear for two months, then you come back to tell me that you're pregnant with the enemy's baby! And, you got _married_ without telling us! My god, Max! What did you expect?" He asked, and I muttered, "Not this."

Fang's POV

"Ari's not _trapping_ me anywhere! I'm staying with him willingly, so calm the (Your curse word here) down, Fang! God, what's with you?" She was very close to screaming, and I was sort of shocked. What was _with_ me?

"Well, first of all, you disappear for two months, then you come back to tell me that you're pregnant with the enemy's baby! And, you got _married_ without telling us! My god, Max, what did you expect?" I was SO angry. She muttered something like, "Not this." Under her breath, and I realized it wasn't exactly he fault for the pregnancy part. I mean, I'm sure she didn't _try _to get knocked up by that maniac.

"Well, for the first time, is our very own Maximum Ride _speechless_? Amazing!" I said, a little sarcastic. She scowled at me, and then… _started to cry_. Was I really that mean?

"It's okay, Max. He's just overreacting. It's fine." Ari said, speaking for the first time. He was comforting a now-crying Max. How many times had I seen her cry? Once, maybe twice? It took a lot to make her cry, and now, here she was, crying, because of me. Ari put his arms around her, and tried to stop her tears, but couldn't. Ugh.

"Max, I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, honestly…" I said, feeling really bad. I made the love of my life cry.

"Y-yes you d-did. You know you did!" She stuttered, still crying. She wiped the tears away, and whispered something to Ari, and he took his arms off of her, and took a small step back.

"Well, I meant some of it, but not all of it. I'm just angry, and shocked, and I was taking it all out on you. I'm glad you came back. Really, I am. I'm just not too thrilled about who you came back with." I said honestly. I really did miss her. "But I'm guessing your just visiting." She nodded.

She put one hand on her little belly bump. "Well, I'm going to have a little one to take care of." She walked over to me, and put my hand on her belly. Nothing happened, but then I felt a little nudge on my hand. I actually smiled at that. That was Max's baby in there.

Max's POV

I walked over and put Fang's hand on my belly. A few seconds later, the baby kicked, and Fang smiled. Maybe he wasn't mad after all.

"So… what do you think of my little baby?" I asked, hoping that he forgave me. He was still smiling at my stomach.

"Amazing. Wait, is it going to be part Eraser?" Fang asked, and then it hit me. I'd never thought of that, and what if it was. It would be really hard to deliver if it were an Eraser-baby. I looked over at Ari, and apparently he was thinking the same thing. For Fang's sake, I would lie.

"Um… well, I'm thinking that if it is, it will be more like me, because I'm the mother. I mean, I'm no expert, but that's my thought." I said, hoping he would be satisfied with that answer.

"Huh." He said, and took his hand off of my belly. I smiled at him reassuringly, and stepped back.

"You're going to be its uncle, you know. Uncle Fang." I said, and he smiled again, happy to be a part of the baby's life. I stepped back, and said, "Okay, so, are we good?" and he nodded. "And what about you two?" I asked, pointing at Fang and Ari. Ari nodded, and Fang hesitated.

"I don't know…" He said, and I frowned. Ari also frowned at Fang's hesitation. "Go and talk to him, and I'll go catch up with the other's." I whispered, only loud enough for him to hear. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" He whispered back, and I nodded.

Ari's POV

I watched as Max walked away. My sweet Max. I hoped she would be okay, but let her go, because she wanted me to talk to Fang. If it made her happy, I would.

"Fang, meet me half way here. I'm willing to put the past behind us. Now, are you?" I asked, hoping it would be that easy. But, of course not.

"Why should I? You and I both know that you've tried to kill us several times. Why would I just let it go and 'put it behind me'? And, as much as I already hated you, now I hate you even more." He said, and I wondered if being stubborn was a bird-kid thing.

"I know that I have harmed you, Max, and the entire flock, but I am not that person anymore. I love Max. What did I do to make you hate me more than you did?" I asked, trying to figure out what I could do to make this work.

"Hmm, let me think. Well, first you kidnapped Max, then made her marry you, and, oh, yeah! You _got her pregnant_! How could I not be mad, when I loved her, too? And she loved me back, until you stole her away from me." He said, angry again. Great.

"I didn't mean to get her pregnant, you know. It wasn't just a way to keep her with me, if that's what you're thinking. If she'd told me she didn't want to be with me, I would have let her go. But, she didn't, and I didn't _force_ her to marry me. I proposed the normal way, and she said yes." I said, not bragging, but reassuring him. He looked at me.

"I just wish I could have had my fair shot with her. But now, it's too late. And I don't think I want to forgive you." He said. Like I was such a huge fan of him. I was doing this for Max! That's it!

"Okay, so you don't forgive me. You have every reason to be mad. I'm not even very happy about Max being pregnant, but I do everything I do for Max. I am meeting you half way, for Max. Now, if you could do the same, it would make her very happy. Isn't that what you want? Max's happiness?" I asked, and he realized that I was right.

"Fine. But just for the sake of Max's happiness." He said, hating to have to forgive me.

"Thank you. Now, let's go find everyone." I said, walking to the edge of the cave and leaping off. I opened my wings, and flapped with all of my power. Poor Max, having to fly while she was pregnant. I hoped she was being careful.

When I was high up, I could see them, surrounding something. I swooped down, and landed. Everyone looked at me, and Fang was next to me in a short second.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, and they stepped away from whatever was on the ground. Then, I realized that the thing was Max, and I rushed towards her. I kneeled down next to her and checked for a pulse. She was unconscious.

"What happened?" I asked, about to kick the ass of whoever hurt my Max.

"She got shot. But just in her wing. She dropped out of the sky too fast for us to catch her, and hit her head on this rock. She's unconscious right now, but she should be fine. We're a little worried about the baby, though." Said the little one, Angel. I was horrified.

"Who shot her, and what can I do to help her?" I asked urgently, looking for the spot where she got hit. I saw it, and it was horrible. There was blood all around it, and the bullet was still in the beautiful wing. I gently pulled out the bullet, and ripped off a piece of my shirt, to put over the wound.

"Well, you can bring her to her mother…" Said Fang. I turned towards him, and asked, "Where does her mom live?" I asked, hoping that her mom could help.

"I'm not going to tell you, but, I'll bring you there. Iggy, you're in charge while I'm gone. DON'T do anything stupid!" He nodded, and Fang gestured for me to follow him. I did, and within seconds, we were flying. We flew for about six hours, and then landed in the woods, some place. Fang walked forward until a small house came into view. He knocked on the door.

"Fang how nice to see you, where's Ma-" She stopped, looking at the barely-conscious Max in my arms.

"What happened? Is she okay?" She asked, and I stepped forward.

"She's been shot, and right now, she's hardly conscious. We were hoping that you could help." She nodded weakly, and Max opened her mouth as if to say something, and then closed it.

"Mom?" She whispered. I brought her over to her mom, and her mom touched her forehead.

"I'm here, Max. I'm going to make you better." Her mom took her out of his hands and invited them in. Fang and I sat down at her kitchen counter, while Max's mom ran some tests.

"What's her name?" I asked, just in case I needed to talk to her.

"Who, Max's mom? Dr. Martinez. She is a vet, and she has a daughter named Ella." Fang informed me, and I nodded. After about an hour of tests and other medical things, Dr. Martinez came back.

"She's fine and completely conscious now, but, did you know that she's pregnant?" Asked Dr. M, and I frowned.

"Yes, we knew, and we're worried about the baby." I said, remembering that when she fell, the baby might have been harmed.

"Well, the baby is in perfect health, and so is Max. Who is the father, though?" She looked worried, probably because she didn't want it to be me.

"Uh, I am." I said, and she actually looked a little relieved. "We got married, and on the honey-moon, Max took a pregnancy test, and it came up as positive." I told her. She looked even more relieved that I'd said we were married.

"Oh, good. I thought that she might have been raped. Uh, are you, by any chance, an Eraser?" She asked, and I nodded. She nodded to herself and thought for a moment.

"Well, Eraser's grow very fast, and are more aggressive than humans; it might not take nine months for the baby to be fully developed. The baby looks like it is about two months old. Is this correct?" She asked and I thought. No, it had definitely not been two months.

"No, maybe three or four weeks, but no more than that." She looked amazed.

"Okay, so I'd give the baby about five months, and it should be fully developed by then. Oh, and, Max can go home now. She just needs lots of bed-rest."

"Of course. Where is she?" I asked, ready to get her back home. Just then, Max came walking out. She looked just fine. Except for her wing…


End file.
